SOCIETY
Following a warm and largely snowless winter, multiple regions in Russia are already reporting dozens to hundreds of wildfires. As climate change worsens the threat across the world, other countries are increasing their budgets to tackle the problem — but not Russia, where firefighting services are facing funding and personnel shortages due to growing military expenditures. As a result, 2025 could be a catastrophic year not only for Russia’s vast and largely unprotected forests, but also for Ukrainian woodlands, where active combat continues.
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What causes Russia’s wildfires?
What’s hindering firefighting efforts?
War in Ukraine — and wildfires in Russia
Wildfire risks will continue to grow
In the Russian regions of Primorsky Krai, Karachay-Cherkessia, and Krasnodar Krai, wildfires were predicted to start much earlier in the year than usual — as soon as late February or early March. And sure enough, in the first days of March, Primorsky Krai reported ten or more natural fires daily, with flames even reaching the Land of the Leopard National Park (which was established over a decade ago to protect the world’s rarest cat, the Amur leopard). Russia’s westernmost Kaliningrad Region, an exclave bordering Lithuania and Poland, has recorded approximately 200 grass fires since the beginning of the year.
According to Avialesokhrana, Russia’s aerial forest protection service, this spring’s wildfires will cover a much larger territory than usual. The last record-breaking season occurred in 2021, when 19 million hectares of forest burned down. Data from the environmental organization “Earth Touches Everyone” («Земля касается каждого») indicates that the scale of natural disaster could be one of the largest since the beginning of the 21st century, while the fire season could be the worst since the end of 2022.
What causes Russia’s wildfires?
Spring forest fires most often spread from adjacent agricultural lands due to the unauthorized burning of dry grass in fields and along roadsides — which is exactly what happened in March in Primorsky Krai.
Dry grass fires often spread to nearby forests.
Controlled burns of dry grass, carried out under the supervision of forest and fire services, are theoretically intended to prevent larger wildfires. However, experts argue that in practice, these burns only dry out trees and shrubs, creating the perfect conditions for flames to spread.
Instead of preventing disasters, human activity often turns forests into an even more fire-prone environment. In 2019, the Amur Region abandoned the springtime preventive burning of grass and deadwood. As a result, the total burned area was reduced several times over, and the region fell out of the list of Russia’s most wildfire-prone areas.
Climate change is also exacerbating the problem. Warmer, drier weather shifts the start of wildfire season to an earlier date, effectively extending the burning period. As a result, some forests in Russia now burn almost year-round.
What’s hindering firefighting efforts?
Russia chronically underfunds its wildfire response organizations. On the surface, 2025's budget for wildfire prevention appears to be 40% higher than that of 2024, totaling 19.9 billion rubles ($232.4 million). However, this increase is largely symbolic — in 2023 and 2024, wildfire protection funding barely changed, while Russia's real inflation rate far exceeds the official 9.5%.
Given Russia’s vast territory, letting forests burn is often seen as being cheaper and more practical than trying to extinguish fires, especially if the blaze starts far from aerial firefighting bases or in remote areas lacking infrastructure.
At the same time — and in stark contrast to its extensive spending on military propaganda — Russia spends almost nothing on fire prevention campaigns. The lack of prioritization is surprising given the fact that fire prevention efforts have proven highly effective in the past. In 2018–2020, a public awareness campaign in Buryatia led by Avialesokhrana, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, and various NGOs helped reduce wildfires by 30%, as locals became more aware of how to prevent and respond to them.
Still, the most critical challenge to Russia’s firefighting efforts is its shortage of personnel and equipment. In 2024, the Fire Protection Service in Tomsk Oblast, which operates separately from the Emergency Ministry, reported a 65% staffing shortage. Firefighters in the region earn 24,000 rubles per month (approximately $260 USD) even after all bonuses are tallied up. Some earn below Russia’s minimum wage of 19,000 rubles ($205 USD).
Firefighters in the Novosibirsk Region operating under the Ministry of Emergency Situations earn more — 61,000 rubles ($660 USD). But these wages pale in comparison to Russian contract soldiers, who receive 210,000 rubles ($2,270 USD) per month, along with a one-time bonus of 1.2 million rubles ($13,000 USD) for signing a contract.
Firefighters in Russia’s Tomsk Region earn 24,000 rubles per month (close to $260) even after all bonuses are tallied up. Some earn below Russia’s minimum wage of 19,000 rubles ($205).
There is also a shortage of fire inspectors and emergency responders. In some regions, one inspector of Russia’s State Fire Supervision Service is responsible for 500–600 square kilometers —man area roughly the size of Malta. Most firefighters have been working for many years, as the profession attracts few young recruits due to the low pay, the physically demanding nature of the job, and the high risk to life and health.
War in Ukraine — and wildfires in Russia
The war in Ukraine has not directly caused wildfires in Russia, but the ongoing conflict has significantly weakened the country’s firefighting capabilities. Russia’s planned military budget for 2025 is 13.5 trillion rubles ($146 billion USD) — 25% higher than in 2023. This accounts for one-third of Russia’s federal spending and 6% of its GDP. By comparison, Russia’s national defense budget in 2021 was just 3.6 trillion rubles. This surge in military spending diverts funds away from other critical areas — including firefighting services — and there are no signs that the trend will be reversed anytime soon.
Firefighters from Ukraine's State Emergency Service working to contain a forest blaze.
Many international environmental organizations were forced to cease operations in Russia or voluntarily withdrew following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This includes groups that took part in highly effective forest protection programs, such as Greenpeace Russia, which was shut down after being labeled an “undesirable organization.” The exit of these organizations has weakened Russia’s fire prevention capabilities and directly affected firefighting efforts, as Greenpeace Russia had previously played an active role in wildfire response.
Meanwhile, Ukraine is experiencing unprecedented wildfires due to military activity. In 2024 alone, 92,000 hectares of Ukrainian forests burned — twice the average annual total for 2022–2023 and three times the combined total for 2014–2019. These fires release additional greenhouse gases, worsening climate change and exacerbating wildfire risks in Russia.
Despite this reality, Vladimir Putin has long sought to monetize Russia’s forests, proposing that other nations pay Moscow for its forests’ carbon absorption capacity as part of global climate change mitigation efforts. In 2024, Russia revised its greenhouse gas emissions calculations, reporting a 34% decrease compared to previous estimates. This reduction was achieved by overstating the carbon absorption capacity of Russian forests while underreporting emissions from fossil fuel consumption and industrial activities.
However, convincing the international community to accept these optimistic figures remains a challenge. In fact, Russia’s push to sell its forests’ carbon absorption capacity has done nothing to protect them. While Russia’s forests remain a major carbon sink, vast areas in the north and east have instead become sources of greenhouse gas emissions due to thawing permafrost and burnt-out forests.
Wildfire risks will continue to grow
Wildfire risks in Russia are increasing and will continue to rise. With the country engaged in a prolonged war in Ukraine, and with severe economic challenges mounting nationwide, forest protection is not high on the list of government priorities.
With Russia engaged in a prolonged war in Ukraine, and with severe economic challenges mounting nationwide, forest protection is not high on the list of government priorities.
Russia’s forestry sector has required reform dating back to Soviet times. Effective forest protection requires reducing unmonitored land (which is happening in some regions), cutting back on fire-based land-use practices, expanding public awareness campaigns, increasing the number of trained professionals working in the sector, and improving equipment and resources for firefighting teams.
Under the current circumstances, however, these reforms are impossible. This means more and more of Russia’s forests risk transitioning from a carbon sink to a carbon source — further fueling the very climate crisis the Kremlin claims it seeks to combat.